PCR amplification of animal DNA with human X-Y amelogenin primers used in gender determination

The X-Y homologous-gene amelogenin has been described for use as a PCR sex typing test for humans. Previous studies have revealed that appropriate primers yield a 106 and 112 bp fragment from the human X and Y chromosome respectively. Our studies have found that a PCR product is also obtained from DNA isolated from a number of common animals. This animal PCR product is very close in size to that of the human female PCR derived product and may be confused as human under routine agarose gel electrophoresis. In this report we detail the variety of animals examined and a method that can maximize the usefulness of this system.